{"id":116173,"date":"2018-07-04T12:20:46","date_gmt":"2018-07-04T11:20:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/?p=116173"},"modified":"2018-07-09T15:43:30","modified_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:43:30","slug":"interview-with-leading-lgbt-blog-daddy-dad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/interview-with-leading-lgbt-blog-daddy-dad\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with leading LGBT+ blog Daddy & Dad"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jamie Beaglehole<\/a> and his partner Tom write Daddy & Dad<\/a>, which was recently ranked in the UK\u2019s Top 10 LGBT+ Blogs<\/a>. Covering life as a two-dad family, with adopted boys Lyall and Richard, Daddy & Dad features everything from the adoption process and the realities of parenthood to days out with the kids. We caught up with Jamie to find out more about the LGBT+ blogging community, why Leicester has the best Pride and how the blog works with PRs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What makes your blog unique?<\/span>
\n<\/strong>I started producing the Daddy & Dad blog back in 2014 when Tom and I adopted our boys, Lyall and Richard. Back then, there was very little first-hand information from same-sex adopters online.<\/p>\n

I set out to plug the gap with stories about the reality of adoption with an honest, unfiltered approach. There are already hundreds of ‘Pinteresty’, pastel-coloured parent blogs which omit the difficult bits, so I include all the ‘bad’ bits too \u2013 sibling rivalry, soft play centres, school run tantrums, supermarket squabbles but, equally, the cuddles, fun and games we have together.<\/p>\n

The blog\u2019s unique because Tom, the kids and I all get involved in Daddy & Dad features and collaborations; it’s a team effort!<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the LGBT+ blogging community like to be part of?<\/span>
\n<\/strong>I\u2019ve been lucky enough to meet several like-minded bloggers through events and awards ceremonies, not least The Dad Network<\/a> (of which I\u2019m an active member) and their network of lovely dads. I\u2019m also a member of a regional blogging group who meet up at PR events in the local area.<\/p>\n

Thinking about the LGBT+ blogging community, the LGBT+ parenting niche is still fairly small so I tend to find myself rubbing shoulders with the wider blogging crowd. That said, we do get involved with the local LGBT+ community through trips to pride and the gay pub in town \u2013 the locals absolutely love Lyall and Rich!<\/p>\n

\"Reach-the-right-influencers-with-the-Vuelio-media-database\"
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the biggest issue facing the LGBT+ community today?<\/strong> <\/span>
\nThere is a prevailing masculine culture that tells children that boys and girls are supposed to behave in a particular way. It leads to LGBT+ children hiding their true feelings from their friends and families. It ultimately contributes to mental health problems and suicide among LGBT+ kids.<\/p>\n

As a gay little boy back in the 1980s myself (a dark time for gay people), I\u2019ve experienced how insidious homophobia creeps into the classroom, usually unchallenged by teachers. Lyall and Rich are eight and nine and neither of them are aware of a single LGBT+ pupil in their whole school of 400 kids. For me, alarm bells are ringing. Why are LGBT+ kids still hiding in plain sight in 2018 when they can look forward to a happy life of marriage and kids of their own? It\u2019s very worrying.<\/p>\n

Where is the best Pride event?<\/span>
\n<\/strong>We love local Pride events. Our favourite Pride is Leicester Pride. We take the boys along every year. Lyall and Rich love the rainbow flags, the fairground rides and the colourful people. We sing and dance to the pop groups and drag queens on the big stage and wave our flags around all afternoon.<\/p>\n

Leicester Pride\u2019s grown from quite a humble event into an enormous festival; this year we\u2019re expecting around 3,000 people in the parade and over 10,000 at the festival in Victoria Park. It\u2019s on 1 September \u2013 fingers crossed for sunshine!<\/p>\n

What do you make of Theresa May\u2019s LGBT Action Plan?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>
\nWhen Tom and I watched Justin Trudeau\u2019s tearful apology for the wrong-doings by Canada towards its LGBTQ2 community, we wanted to swap him for Theresa May immediately. But, to be fair, she has<\/p>\n

spoken on behalf of LGBT+ people in this action plan. So-called gay cure therapy should have been outlawed years ago \u2013 it\u2019s torture \u2013 to be honest I\u2019m always stunned that it exists. The PM needs to push this through quickly and enforce legal action against anybody who continues to try to cure gay people.<\/p>\n

Tackling bullying in school? Blimey. Mrs May is going to need a lot of help. This is an issue for society as a whole. It requires full cooperation and no ambiguity, with a loud, clear, public message from politicians, influential celebrities, the media, school teachers, faith school leaders, religious leaders, parents, local councillors, everybody. I honestly don\u2019t know how she\u2019ll manage it, but I\u2019ll be watching closely and doing everything I can to help.<\/p>\n

What one thing should PRs know about you?<\/strong> <\/span>
\nOne thing? Oh crikey. We\u2019re established, we have an engaged audience and we\u2019re ready to work with you!<\/p>\n

As a family, we throw ourselves into PR and brand collaborations enthusiastically (literally if it\u2019s a new waterpark). The whole family gets involved \u2013 our boys had a very turbulent start to their little lives so we like to make up for lost time by enjoying all these amazing new experiences together.<\/p>\n

What are the best campaigns or collaborations you\u2019ve been part of? <\/span>
\n<\/strong>We\u2019ve been very lucky to attract the attention of some prestigious household brands.<\/p>\n

\"Daddy<\/p>\n

So far this year, we played \u2018Never have I ever\u2019 with Pizza Express dough-balls in an unscripted TV advert \u2013 that was fantastic fun although we were more than a little nervous about what the boys might say on camera! Tom and I also appeared in the 2018 Birds Eye #Solidaritea film alongside some of the UK\u2019s favourite parenting influencers.<\/p>\n

We reviewed a monthly board game for Asmodee, promoted a \u2018Hobbit Hole\u2019 holiday for Campsites.co.uk in a Lake District travel feature, launched a new Lazer Quest toy, starred in our own My Magic Story books and last weekend we reviewed a beautiful penthouse apartment in Canary Wharf. And that\u2019s just the highlights!<\/p>\n

Do bloggers need their own industry association?<\/span>
\n<\/strong>I don\u2019t know much about this, to be honest. But, I do have experience with PR work and blogging as a business. The blogging industry is unregulated and compensation for similar jobs can fluctuate drastically. I know some people expect fledgling bloggers to work for free or for the promise of exposure. I can\u2019t think of any other industry where that kind of transaction could legally work.<\/p>\n

As a copywriter, I tend to apply my writing rates to blogging work. Generally speaking, every collaboration or sponsored feature can be broken down into chargeable segments. Like any other business, a blogger should at least charge for the parts and labour (travel expenses, time and effort).<\/p>\n

If everyone collectively said no to free work, or work in lieu of exposure, businesses would sit up and listen.<\/p>\n

What other blogs do you read?<\/span>
\n<\/strong>My favourite blogs tend to be relatively small and beautifully written. I love travel blog Birkenstocks and Backpacks<\/a>, aspiring writer Rachel Horne\u2019s blog Let\u2019s Get Real<\/a>, freelancing blog Michelle Abrahall<\/a>, and Mush & Bean Daddies<\/a>, which follows young couple Joe & Craig in the early stages of their adoption process \u2013 they\u2019re just starting out on their own Daddy & Dad adventure!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Daddy & Dad is listed on the\u00a0Vuelio Influencer Database<\/a>\u00a0along with thousands of other bloggers, vloggers, journalists and opportunities.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jamie Beaglehole and his partner Tom write Daddy & Dad, which was recently ranked in the UK\u2019s Top 10 LGBT+ Blogs. We caught up with Jamie to find out more about the LGBT+ blogging community, why Leicester has the best Pride and how the blog works with PRs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":312,"featured_media":116272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7365,7272,4038,6980],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116173"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/312"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116173"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116187,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116173\/revisions\/116187"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}